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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 8413639" data-attributes="member: 710">Healing Surges were not just about the "daily pacing". There was a second, important part of it, which was related to ehaling surges and healing triggers and was about creating tension during a combat.Someone pointed out that the effective hit points characters had during the day was not just the pure hit points, but the hit points +plus all the healing surges they had. During an individual encounter, the character's effective hitpoints where his hitpoints, plus all the healing surges he could potentially utilize during an encounter. And that was limited. WIthout any Leader or healing powers in the party, everyone just had Second Wind. WIth a Leader, you had at least two extra uses in the party.The dynamic this creates is that you can get lowered to 0 hit pints and are close to dying, potentially in real trouble. If the leader or anyone else with a healing power can't make it in time, you're losing an action and get a step closer to death. Once the leader intervenes, you're back in the fight, though. During this time you're out (or even just close to out), there is rising tension followed by relief during combat even way before everyone is really out of hit points. "Will the next attack drop me to 0?" Will the healer get to me in time?" "Will I make this death saving throw?" I think that was a pretty clever design, and I certainly prefer it over save or die spells which accomplished something similar in other editions of D&D (particularly D&D 3rd Edition). You're not just at the mercy of your dice, the party can do something about it, and it doesn't require special monsters and NPCs to be part of the game.</blockquote>

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